Malawi teacher jailed for 13 years for sexual activity with schoolgirl

A 28 year old teacher in Nsanje has started serving a 13 year jail term after he was convicted for sleeping and impregnating under-age girl.

Ndovi: Need to cut the bureaucracy in hearing disciplinary cases of misbehaving teachers

The stiff sentence comes at a time when parents, girl rights advocates and NGOs are accusing the government of being too slow in dealing with issues of primary school teachers who impregnate learners, in some cases impregnating them yet they are just transferred.

Magistrate Anderson Masanjala sentenced Saidi Goba from Mm’bang’ombe primary school in the district after parents refused to take up the case with the ministry of education saying they have lost interest with the ministry who failed to discipline the teacher.

Goba comes from Trasada village in chief Malemia’s area in the district.

The ruling comes barely two weeks after he sent another teacher to 12 years in jail on similar offence in a bid to end a teacher/learner relationship.

Fanny Chirembo, coordinator for Yoneco welcomed the ruling saying in Mangochi a teacher impregnated a learner was merely transferred to another school as disciplinary measures were being awaited.

At the new school, he impregnated another girl and was transferred to another school where he also impregnated another girl and the ministry transferred him to another where he impregnated another before Yoneco was alerted after people wanted to deal with him and the organisation wanted him arrested. He bolted and still at large.

Education activist Benedicto Kondowe slammed the government for dilly dallying in such issues saying transferring such teachers from one school to another was just transferring a problem from one school to another.

He said district education managers should be empowered and authorised to discipline such teachers.

The reporting system on undisciplined teachers such as those who defile learners remain cumbersome. A head teacher has to report the matter to a primary education advisor who has to report the matter to district education office who in turn reports the issue to the office of the regional education manager who then finally reports the matter to ministry of Education which asks the Teaching Service Commission to hear the case.

Ministry of Education spokesperson Manfred Ndovie conceded there was need to cut the bureaucracy in hearing disciplinary cases of misbehaving teachers.

“It is also our view that such cases should be heard at DEM’s office so that everything is done on time and such teachers are disciplined on time,” he said.

As the ministry mulls over this, another teacher in Nkhotakota is on the run after being tipped that girl rights activists have reported him to police for touching a breast of a 20 year old learner without consent after he lured her into a room on pretext he wanted to give her a book.

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8 thoughts on “Malawi teacher jailed for 13 years for sexual activity with schoolgirl”

Here in Zimbabwe any teacher who is involved in a relationship with a pupil is dismissed. This explains why our country is ranked top in Africa.The ministry of Education in Malawi should take a leaf out of the Zimbabwean education system. At least you have a Teaching Service Commission.It must set rules for all teachers to follow. Do the correct thing and make Africa proud.

Not only teachers should be punished, everyone sleeping with a minor whether male or female should be punished. A teacher is just the same as any human being, has sexual desire. Even medical workers they are tempted in the same way as teachers. But lets make Malawi a good place for everyone.

I have been a Human Resource Officer in the Min of Education, I indeed agree that the disciplinary processes have to be decentralised. It becomes a setback on issues like these. Let me also remind ministry of health to decentralise processing confirmations of officers and authorization of maternity leave. It does not make sense to wait for confirmations and maternity leave authority from capital hill